Irs Whistleblower Program Improvement Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7959) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make improvements with respect to the treatment of whistleblowers, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 7959
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; ETC.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act''.
(b) Amendment of 1986 Code.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) References to Secretary.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate.
(d) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; etc. Sec. 2. Standard and scope of review of whistleblower award determinations. Sec. 3. Whistleblower privacy protections. Sec. 4. Modification of IRS whistleblower report. Sec. 5. Interest on whistleblower awards. Sec. 6. Correction regarding deductions for attorney's fees. SEC. 2. STANDARD AND SCOPE OF REVIEW OF WHISTLEBLOWER AWARD DETERMINATIONS.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (4) of section 7623(b) is amended--
(1) by striking ``appealed to'' and inserting ``reviewed by'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ``Any review by the Tax Court under the preceding sentence shall be de novo and shall be based on the administrative record established at the time of the original determination and any additional newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading of paragraph (4) of section 7623(b) is amended by striking ``Appeal'' and inserting ``Review''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to petitions under section 7623(b)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which are pending on, or filed on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 3. WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (6) of section 7623(b) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Whistleblower anonymity before the tax court.-- Notwithstanding sections 7458 and 7461, a whistleblower may elect to proceed anonymously before the Tax Court for all proceedings under this section absent a finding by the Tax Court that a societal interest exists for disclosing the whistleblower's identity which exceeds the potential harm disclosure could cause to the whistleblower.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to petitions under section 7623(b)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which are pending on, or filed on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF IRS WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT.
(a) In General.--Section 406(c) of division A of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 is amended by striking ``such use,'' in paragraph (1) and inserting ``such use (which shall include a list and descriptions of the top tax avoidance schemes, not to exceed 10, disclosed by whistleblowers during such year),''.
(b) Effective Date.-- The amendments made by this section shall apply to reports for fiscal years ending after the enactment of this Act. SEC. 5. INTEREST ON WHISTLEBLOWER AWARDS.
(a) In General.--Section 7623(b) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) Interest.--
``(A) In general.--If the Secretary has not provided notice to an individual described in paragraph (1) of a preliminary award recommendation before the applicable date, the amount of any award under this subsection shall include interest from such date at the overpayment rate under section 6621(a).
``(B) Exception.--No interest shall accrue under this paragraph after the date on which the Secretary provides notice to the individual of a preliminary award recommendation.
``(C) Applicable date.--For purposes of this paragraph, the applicable date is the date that is 12 months after the first date on which--
``(i) all of the proceeds resulting from actions subject to the award recommendation have been collected, and
``(ii) either--
``(I) the statutory period for filing a claim or suit for refund has expired, or
``(II) the taxpayers subject to the actions and the Secretary have agreed with finality to the tax or other liabilities for the periods at issue, and either the taxpayers have waived the right to file a claim or suit for refund or any claim or suit for refund has been resolved.''.
(b) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Special rule.--If, as of the date described in paragraph (1)--
(A) the Secretary has not provided notice to the individual of a preliminary award recommendation as described in paragraph (7)(A) of section 7623(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by this Act, and
(B) the applicable date provided in paragraph (7)(C) of such section, as so added, has passed, the applicable date for purposes of such paragraph (7)(C) is the date that is 12 months after the date described in paragraph (1). SEC. 6. CORRECTION REGARDING DEDUCTIONS FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES.
(a) In General.--Section 62(a)(21)(A)(i) is amended by striking ``7623(b)'' and inserting ``7623''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7959, the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by the Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee chairman, Mr. Mike Kelly, and the subcommittee's ranking member, Mr. Mike Thompson.
The IRS relies in part upon whistleblowers who have the courage to report bad actors who are committing tax fraud, tax evasion, and other similar crimes they witness occurring in the private sector.
The IRS Whistleblower Program is one of the many government efforts that is crucial to combat the epidemic of fraud and stop bad actors from stealing hard-earned dollars from American taxpayers. Since 2007, this program has led to the collection of over $7 billion in unpaid taxes.
At a time when it appears we need a comprehensive approach to combating fraud across various government programs, Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee Chairman Kelly is building on his longstanding commitment to reform and improve the IRS Whistleblower Program to better protect whistleblowers and appropriately reward them for their contributions to combating fraud.
Mr. Speaker, whistleblowers play a critical role in government oversight, whether it be uncovering bad actors within government or, in the case of the IRS Whistleblower Program, alerting the IRS to those in the private sector who are defrauding American taxpayers.
This Congress, the Ways and Means Committee and this administration have made combating fraud a key priority, and I welcome this opportunity to strengthen and impose a key tool in that effort.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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